MAES Soil Pilot state of play Jan Verboven

MAES Soil Pilot state of play Jan Verboven, VLM Jacques Delsalle, DG ENV B 1 11 th WG MAES 8/03/2016

On-going actions on soil at EU level • EU Expert Group on Soil Protection • Bringing together experts nominated by all EU Member States • Reflexion on how to address 7 th EAP commitments on soil • Inventory of soil protection measures in all EU MS • National legislations + implementation EU policies • Regulations, voluntary instruments, support schemes: state of play, implementation, gap analysis • Pilot Mapping and Assessment of Soil-related Ecosystem Services (MAES) • On-going work on land degradation neutrality and land use efficiency (SDG 15, UNCCD, Land as a Resource)

Reminder : MAES-Soil pilot objectives • Capacity building: opportunity for exchanging experiences and involving stakeholders. Implies communicating on success but also fail factors at EU, national, regional and local levels. • Policy-oriented deliverables , providing realistic method for soil ecosystem services assessment, with direct with potential application e. g. in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), environmental compensation discussions, etc. • Improvement of the knowledge base, through the building of a shared assessment framework connecting EU, national, regional and local interests and decisions. • There are numerous EU policy frameworks that will directly benefit from this pilot project, including the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020, the Soil Thematic Strategy (COM 2006/231 EC), the 7 th Environmental Action Programme 2014 -2020, CAP, Forest Strategy, Disaster Prevention, Climate Change policies, etc.

Key 2016 milestone: Workshop June 2016 • Objectives • Discuss and agree on the policy goals of MAES-Soil • Provide a comprehensive perspective of the scope and timing of related research projects or assessments at EU and national levels, and how it contributes to improving the mapping and assessment of soil-related ecosystem services • Identify the knowledge needs (monitoring, research) for potential policy initiatives at EU and national levels • On that basis, agree on timetable and outputs for MAES-Soil and the linkage with related initiatives • Background document: • Draft policy brief on soil-related ecosystem services, indicators and policy implications, to be completed on the basis of the discussion and discussed at 3 rd meeting EU Soil Expert Group in October 2016

Participants: • Active discussion between a mix of researchers/experts and policy makers. +/- 30 participants: • Policy makers • • Representative from farmers, landowners, spatial planners, water resource managers, agri-environmental advisors, local authorities. Member States (from EU Soil Expert Group) Policy DGs: ENV, AGRI, CLIMA and REGIO. Research & monitoring • • EU projects or networks: FP 7 RECARE, Horizon 2020 LANDMARK, ISQAPER and INSPIRATION, JRC/EEA work on EU-wide soil functions, Sed. Net. National/Regional initiatives Belgium MAES-Soil working group, France GISSOL + EFESE, Spain MAES- Soil pilot, Italy SAM 4 CP LIFE+project.

Policy brief: draft structure • Defining and assessing soil-related ecosystem services • • Policy Instruments for Preserving and Enhancing Soil ESS • • Description of key components of the soil ecosystem Relationships between soil ecosystem conditions, soil functions and soil ESS Interaction with land cover, water resources, above-ground biodiversity Link between soil-related ecosystem services and societal challenges, integration in existing policies (climate, water, agriculture, etc. ) Policy options for instruments to preserve and enhance soil-related ecosystem services Implication for knowledge base policy (research agenda, monitoring): should novel indicators be developed? Who takes responsibility? Where would the information come from? Next steps, link with existing networks and related initiatives • Timetable and outputs for MAES-Soil and linkage with related initiatives.

Thank you for your attention! Jacques. Delsalle@ec. europa. eu